mature

Apparently, they are if you A) live in the United Kingdom and B) are a minor. According to the bastion of journalism that is the TimesOnline (that is called sarcasm), a report commissioned by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown found that games “harm the development of childrenâ€™s beliefs and value systems and desensitise them to violence.”

To mitigate this problem, the report encourages a video games rating overhaul and one of the peculiar changes is a prominent display of the new rating. The way the Times London puts it, the UK government want games sold like cigarettes, which is an abhorrent idea.

Right now a lot of country’s are taking a look at their ratings systems and seeing if they do the job. In Australia, they’re doing something similar. The attorneys general there are meeting in a big shindig to decide if an overhaul of ratings policy is needed, according to Australia’s ABC News. Gamers there are hoping for an adult rating so they won’t see more games banned.

As for the stuff that’s going on in the UK, it makes me glad I live in the United States. At least here, we put the onus of raising children on the parents, and we know better than to treat games as something illicit.